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Tuesday, April 24, 2012

U is for Underworld and The Usual Suspects

Aside from The Untouchablesfor U movies, I know that for a TV category I can include Ugly Betty. But, as is my way with this list, I will proceed to discuss vampire and crime films.

Underworld: A leather cat suit, weapon wielding vampire is an awesome vampire. Selene not only has to fight Lycans but she has to save her human-Lycan boyfriend too. And while some of the acting isn’t great in the first film (Kraven reminded me of a soap opera vampire more than anything with his button up shiny club hopping shirt) it’s still a really good movie. It’s not like a 10 star film but it’s just good, solid entertainment that sticks to some vampire and werewolf lore (coffins, night time, silver bullets) but it makes them all modern and part of a militia. Plus, they look cool. Hence, I think students would like this more than the Twilightfilms because while the romance is very similar, the action and concept is more fast-paced. Plus, Michael (Scott Speedman - Ben from Felicity and Selene (Kate Beckinsale) are much more interesting characters in that they play major roles in the war – you know, they fight and stuff and don’t just talk about it.

Selene: Lycans are allergic to silver. We have to get the bullets out quickly, or they end up dying on us during questioning. Michael Corvin: What happens to them afterward? Selene: We put the bullets back in.

The Usual Suspects: What makes a movie great? Put Kevin Spacey in it to play a creepy criminal. (Saying that, I just realized that I forgot to mention Se7en in my S post. Horrible!) Anyway, while it’s been forever since I’ve seen this movie, I remember the basics and how cool it was to go through the story wondering, like everyone else, who was Keyser Söze. (I won’t spoil the ending for you.) The story is told through one survivor’s account of how a mass murderer ended up killing a crew of criminals who were trying to smuggle money from a drug boat that Keyser Söze’s rivals are after. So while it sounds like another Ocean’s Eleventhere’s a lot more suspense and trying to figure out what’s going on with these criminals. The end is just the best and it really isn’t something you expect when you first see it. It’s another one of those that changes the way films are made where you’re following an unreliable narrator without realizing it. Brilliant film that I really need to see again soon.

Verbal: Who is Keyser Soze? He is supposed to be Turkish. Some say his father was German. Nobody believed he was real. Nobody ever saw him or knew anybody that ever worked directly for him, but to hear Kobayashi tell it, anybody could have worked for Soze. You never knew. That was his power. The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. And like that, poof. He's gone.